White Papers

White Papers

Going Global: Building a Sustainable Logistics Model in the Age of Globalization

Globalization puts forward opportunities to companies of any size who can effectively provide or source products and services in dynamic markets. Review our white paper and learn:

How to gain a competitive advantage through global transportation logistics

Factors that influence international shipments

Five characteristics of a global TMS and why companies worldwide should consider TMS technology

Select the categories you would like to view:

Global Logistics
(15)

Supply Chain Solutions
(20)

Freight Services
(11)

Global Logistics

Wide Open: How the Panama Canal Expansion is Redrawing the Logistics Map

Boston Consulting Group and C.H. Robinson collaborated to examine how the Panama Canal Expansion in 2016 will impact logistics. Read the conclusions:

The expansion could shift 10% of container traffic between East Asia and the U.S. from West Coast ports to East Coast ports

The battleground on which U.S. ports compete for customers will move several hundred miles west, to a region that accounts for more than 15% of GDP

Shippers and carriers will have to adapt their strategies and operations as logistics grows more complex

Improve Multichannel Supply Chain Management with TMS Technology

With competitive pressures in many industries, shippers must more effectively manage freight flows across multiple channels. This white paper explores:

How a transportation management system (TMS) can help deliver a first-rate buying experience to customers, no matter how or where they purchase

How retailers can maintain high service standards for fulfillment in expanding global markets

How a TMS can enable companies to continue meeting consumers’ rising expectations

How to Overcome the Top 5 Challenges in the Ceramic Proppant Supply Chain

Global ceramic proppant manufacturers have one of the most complex supply chains in the oil and gas industry. Find out:

How innovations in transportation and logistics help these shippers plan more effectively and manage risk

How 5 obstacles thwart a more efficient supply chain

How each obstacle can be overcome

What to ask potential transportation and logistics providers to ensure they can help optimize an oil and gas supply chain

Utilizing Global Freight Consolidation

When companies can’t fill an entire container with their own freight, air and ocean freight consolidators offer strategic options. Discover:

The types of consolidation available

The strongest lanes for consolidated freight

Good and bad consolidation candidates

Questions to ask before selecting a freight forwarder

Compete Globally: Combine Global TMS Technology with Expertise

Successfully managing your global supply chain is a competitive necessity. Achieving an optimized global supply chain is challenging, yet can be achieved by combining a global transportation management system (TMS) with the expertise of TMS power users. This white paper explores:

How to companies can navigate the complexities of a global market

What TMS technology features are important to consider

Why TMS power users are vital to maximizing the value of the TMS technology

How best-in-class companies are preparing for and for and deploying global TMS + expertise solutions

10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a TMS for China

Many companies decide to implement a TMS to compete more effectively, improve visibility, optimize freight, and lower their supply chain costs. It is challenging to select the best TMS in the United States and Europe, but it is even more challenging to assess TMS options for China. The questions in this white paper can help evaluate how prepared a provider is to fully support the TMS solution and address the company's specific business requirements in this market so the company can achieve its desired objectives.

Optimizing Your Supply Chain with Air Cargo

Air cargo can help optimize your global supply chain with speed to market and the best combination of service and price. This white paper explores

How air cargo can provide quick response to market demands

The value of technology in air cargo services

The benefits of air cargo in emerging markets

Removing Barriers to Canada-U.S. Shipping

This white paper explains the top three issues unique to trade between Canada and the United States, and offers tips that can help streamline cross-border shipping. It explores:

How the exchange rate impacts the value of products and the cost to hire a carrier

The 3 most common reasons for delays at the border

Factors that affect carrier capacity on both sides of the border

Add Resilience to Supply Chains

Natural disasters and other events can disrupt connections between you, suppliers, and customers. You can circumvent disruptions or minimize their impact on the supply chain. This white paper explores:

Which companies face the greatest risk for disruption

What supply chain mapping can reveal about risk

How you can build resilience into your supply chain

U.S. Customs Compliance Your guide to “reasonable care”

Questions often arise when shippers that import to the U.S. try to navigate the complexities of customs regulations. These questions, if not addressed properly can lead to mistakes and costly errors. Building a proactive strategy for exercising “reasonable care” is critical to understanding:

The most common customs mistakes and best practices to avoid them

The true cost of noncompliance

The importance of a strong import compliance strategy

Strategic Insights to Global Vendor Management in North America

Coordinate worldwide suppliers and vendors so your global freight arrives on time, wherever you do business. This white paper highlights how to use global vendor management programs, including:

How these programs are helping companies control global freight more efficiently and cost effectively

Global Shipping: Protecting the Value of Goods

Global air and ocean shipments must follow unique international regulations that often favor carriers. Understanding how your cargo insurance policy covers your risks and liability is critical for regulatory compliance and protecting the value of your goods. The white paper helps you understand global shipments.

What regulations and international laws affect your shipments

How cargo insurance protects the value of your goods around the world

Why it is essential to understand exclusions in your insurance policy

U.S.-Mexico Shipping Options

Know what can happen at the U.S.-Mexico border with your truckload shipments and understand:

Discover whether a China warehouse solution is right for you by learning about:

The benefits of overseas warehousing and shipping directly to end customers

Potential challenges

Implementation strategies

Get Ready for a Customs Audit: Why Shipper Audits Are Increasing, and How You Can Prepare

As U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) steps up enforcement of customs regulatory compliance, more companies find themselves faced with a customs audit. This white paper explores:

The factors that increase the risk of being audited

How companies can prepare an audit team to practice for such an event

How a customs audit can lead to smoother processes and better communications with CBP

Supply Chain Solutions

Do "Favored Shippers" Really Receive Better Pricing and Service?

Anecdotal evidence and some qualitative research suggests that "favored shippers"—companies for which carriers prefer to haul freight—obtain better pricing and service. But do they? In this paper, Iowa State University researchers explain:

How they sought to understand the voice of U.S. truckload carriers

How they quantitatively measured the effects of "favored shipper" characteristics on transportation costs

What characteristics actually make shippers favored in the transportation marketplace

A New Model for Estimating Carbon Emissions from LTL Shipments

There is currently no widely accepted, accurate template for calculating emissions for individual LTL shipments. Graduate students at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) used actual LTL shipment data from TMC, a division of C.H. Robinson, and a national LTL carrier to examine the issue. Read the results:

CSCMP Explores: How to Talk Transportation Budgets to Non-transportation Professionals

Open discussions with people in your organization about how potential business decisions impact the transportation budget—and how the business can decide whether the tradeoff is worth it—before the decisions are made. In terms just about anyone can understand, it explains the key drivers of transportation cost increases:

Shipment sizes

Changing networks

Product mix

Fuel surcharges

Truckload’s unique shipper/carrier contract

Choosing a TMS Plus Managed Services Provider: Making the Most of Your RFP

When the time is right for your business to issue a request for proposal (RFP), there are several key considerations that can determine the difference between achieving your goals and spinning your wheels. We've boiled them down to a few important factors to help ensure you choose the provider that best fits your organizational strategy.

Collaborative Outsourcing: Is Logistics Outsourcing Right for Your Company?

How does a company decide that outsourcing logistics is the right choice? This white paper can help companies decide by exploring:

Misperceptions about the realities of outsourcing

How to set reasonable expectations for what outsourcing can contribute to your organization

How much of a role you will need to play to achieve the successful business outcomes you seek

Cargo Claims: Basic Steps to File a Cargo Claim

Each claim is unique. But following these basic steps and timelines can help with cargo claims filing and resolution. This white paper explains:

Minimum requirements for every claim

Situations that can slow resolution or result in a rejected claim

Best practices that can help enable more effective claims resolution

Collaborative Outsourcing: How to Gain Value from a Strategic Onsite Logistics Resource

Logistics outsourcing agreements can require the provider to place highly knowledgeable, strategic staff onsite at the company’s location. This paper looks at the strategic onsite role—both from the perspective of companies that utilize these highly skilled resources and the onsite staff themselves. It explores:

Best practices that can increase successful outcomes

How to measure the success of a strategic onsite relationship

Questions you should ask a potential provider about their onsite employees

Supply Chain Logistics as a Driver of Business Strategy & Profitability

Customer demands are changing the dynamics of competition in many industries. Companies that make their supply chains more flexible can drive their business goals faster and create a better experience for the end customer. Learn how:

Customer demand affects supply chain dynamics

Companies can manage supply chain costs and risk to drive strategy

Technology can accelerate the global supply chain and help satisfy customer demand

Cargo Theft: How Cargo Is Targeted and What Can Be Done About It

Mitigating risk of cargo theft begins with an understanding how criminals operate and what types of commodities they target is the first step to protecting your freight. This white paper explores:

Who the criminals are

Where freight is at risk

Which commodities are most at risk

Ways to reduce your risk

New Ideas to Strengthen the Chemical Supply Chain

Chemical manufacturers face unique supply chain requirements. The way a chemical company responds to supply chain risks can ultimately determine their success. Research shows market leaders:

Source critical supply chain expertise and experience

Apply process engineering to integrate sales and operations with business management practices

Use integrated technology for visibility to the full order life cycle

Stale Rates Research: Benefits of Frequent Transportation Bids

Do regular procurement events help control transportation costs, or are frequent rebids a waste of time? This white paper answers the question, based on the results of Iowa State University research:

How carriers adjust and honor contract rates between procurement events

Why regular procurement events lower costs

How procurement events promote strategic relationships with service providers

You can improve efficiency and lower costs by outsourcing your LTL (less than truckload) freight. Read this paper to discover:

Why companies outsource LTL

How LTL pricing and discounts can work for you

Advantages of collaborative LTL outsourcing

5 criteria for selecting an LTL outsource provider

Going Global: Building a Sustainable Logistics Model in the Age of Globalization

Globalization puts forward opportunities to companies of any size who can effectively provide or source products and services in dynamic markets. Review our white paper and learn:

How to gain a competitive advantage through global transportation logistics

Factors that influence international shipments

Five characteristics of a global TMS and why companies worldwide should consider TMS technology

How Best Practices in Transportation Can Improve Project Cargo Outcomes

With globalization of raw material sources and a growing number of origins and destinations for project cargo, efficient transportation is becoming crucial to success. This white paper explores:

How transportation impacts the project cargo supply chain

The role of transportation, from preplanning to project completion

How transportation best practices can improve project cargo outcomes

Emerging Best Practices in Food & Beverage Shipping: Fulfilling the Perfect Order

Food and beverage companies that employ best practices in perfect order fill find opportunities for revenue growth and cost reduction. Find out how fulfilling the perfect order helps companies:

Maximize productivity and profits

Protect brand equity

Improve customer satisfaction and competitiveness

CSA: Shipper Challenges and Opportunities(Updated and Revised December 2010)

CSA remains a work in progress. As the FMCSA prepares to implement SMS in December 2010, review our updated white paper to learn:

What CSA is designed to do

How CSA tracks for SMS and SFD differ

What you can do now to prepare for CSA implementation

Identifying Opportunities with Your Inbound Transportation

Learn how you can apply outbound process improvements to inbound transportation to obtain:

Reduced costs

Improved service

Minimized delays

Reduced confusion

Increased performance

Supply Chains: Where to Find the Biggest, Fastest Transportation Savings

Explore these ten ways to cut transportation costs and learn:

How can you achieve the greatest transportation savings with the least amount of effort

What kind of ROI you can achieve as a result

Freight Services

Maintain the Cold Chain: Six Supply Chain Best Practices for Temperature Sensitive Freight

Cold chains—whether they span a state, region, or the globe—often lead to unique challenges. A strategic approach to temperature controlled shipping should include the right combination of collaboration, communication, and best practices. Learn which best practices can lead to better outcomes:

Establishing clear expectations

Sharing responsibilities

Balancing cost and technology

Be an Attractive LTL Shipper

Certain shipping and freight characteristics can make it challenging for less than truckload (LTL) carriers to serve companies and maintain profitability. Shippers can add process efficiencies and make their LTL freight easier to handle to become more attractive customers. This white paper covers:

Tips to make LTL freight more attractive

Practices that help make LTL carriers more efficient

Common accessorials—and what to do about them

Attractive LTL shippers are more likely to achieve greater rate stability, potentially reduce costs, and become preferred customers when capacity is tight.

When to Consider Intermodal Service: Identifying the Right Supply Chain Attributes

Incorporating intermodal service into a supply chain can be a strategic method of adding efficiency and achieving cost savings. Shippers with the right supply chain characteristics can make the most of intermodal service. Aspects to consider include:

Origins and destinations of shipments

Products being transported

Seasonality of demand

Mitigate and Manage Your LTL Accessorials

Shippers pay LTL accessorials to cover inefficiencies in transportation and administrative processes, as well as requirements for specialized equipment. This white paper:

Reviews common LTL accessorials

Explains why they occur

Provides ways that shippers can reduce exposure to LTL accessorials

Evaluating Your FAK: Identify the Flaws in Your Pricing Program

FAK agreements are one way to streamline your supply chain for both savings and efficiency. A successful, strategic FAK means finding a balance that is right for your company’s situation.

Understand industry influences that can affect your agreement

Correct internal flaws that may lead to FAK failure

Follow five steps to develop a more successful FAK strategy

Strategies for Transportation Spend: Understanding the Dynamics of Carrier Pricing, Service, and Commitment

Many factors affect the level of commitment that carriers and shippers have to each other’s business. But shippers who understand the dynamics behind carrier pricing and service levels are better positioned to:

Improve predictability and flexibility of available capacity

Have more productive relationships

Obtain more positive carrier service

Truckload Fuel Surcharges: How They Work and What They Cost

To reduce overall costs, shippers often modify their fuel surcharges by changing the index, raising the peg, or raising the escalator. But which of these methods actually can achieve the goal? Using the latest research on fuel surcharges, this paper explains:

How fuel surcharges work

What actually happens to costs as shippers employ three common tactics to modify fuel surcharges

Which of these three tactics can lower costs

Manufacturers and Retailers Focus on Logistics Excellence as Service Performance Grows in Importance in a Consumer-Centric Marketplace

Volatile demand, growing regulation, compressed order lead times, and other factors are putting greater pressure on manufacturers and retailers. Research organization IDC looked at these and other factors to learn:

How consumers define fulfillment excellence

How IT investments are changing

What warehouse management and transportation best practices can lead to better service metrics

Key Factors in Motor Carrier Selection: Balanced Risk Assessment

As companies navigate an environment of changing motor carrier safety rating assessments and regulations, many express concern about their risk profile and potential involvement in lawsuits. This white paper explores: